Soccer Notebook: Hayes helping Garnet Valley regain winning touch

LOWER MERION -- Garnet Valley goalkeeper Maris Hayes led her team through the handshake line Monday after a 2-0 win over Lower Merion.

It was the seventh straight match in which the Jaguars walked off the pitch with a victory, and the seventh straight in which they kept a clean sheet.

At the forefront of that, too, is Hayes.

The junior first-year starter has stepped into an otherwise veteran squad and made an immediate impact.

"I think as a first year starter, she's come in and worked hard," coach Paul Costa said. "Her doing that (registering seven straight shutouts), shows you how hard she works and the mentality she has. When she came in, we didn't know what we were going to get. And she's worked hard from Aug. 13, and it's leaps and bounds. And that's the epitome of what she's all about."

Hayes didn't see the varsity field last year, with starter Carolyn Schwartz holding down the fort between the posts. But youth and inexperience hasn't held her back this season, when she's helped lead the Jags to a 9-5-0 record.

Hayes ranks among the county leaders with 81 saves, and she's stopping 86.2 percent of the shots to come her way.

"The first part was a little rough, but my team really helped me through it," Hayes said. "They always support me. If I get down after having a rough game, they always bring me back."

Hayes is the first to admit that the shutout streak in which she hasn't surrendered a goal since Sept. 14 isn't an individual effort. Indeed, the junior is just the final piece, albeit an efficient one, in an approach that emphasizes team defense.

With a veteran and defensively responsible team, Costa's players can defend the field in zones, allowing opponents to come forward little by little and patiently using the sidelines to freeze play. Knowing that Hayes has full control of the final 18 yards of the pitch, both the balls that find her cage and others in the area, is a major portion of that.

Hayes doesn't play the role of meek underclassman on the field. Against the Aces, she wasn't timid about coming out for long passes, absorbing a couple of big blows from onrushing attackers. She's also very vocal about organizing her defense, led by four-year starting centerback Julia McGrath and active sweeper Jordan Ireland.

"It's definitely a collective effort right now," McGrath said. "A lot is due to Maris, because she's holding them whenever they get by us. But I think it's definitely an improvement from the beginning of the year. ... She's played awesome so far. It's hard to expect so much out of someone who's never been on varsity before. But she's definitely lived up to everything. She's really been like a rock back there."

It also helps that even the offensive contributors on the team pull their weight in defense. Monday, for example, Jackie Glanfield, who tallied the team's first goal and is tied as the Jags' leading scorer, tracked back into a deep-lying midfield role to keep the Aces at bay. And it's not just Glanfield, someone Costa says "play 100 yards of the field for 80 minutes every game," as the likes of Megan Tracewell and Haley Warden provide both offensive creativity and midfield grit.

"From our forwards all the way back to Julia, all 10 of our girls play defense," Costa said. "And Julia has been on the field every minute of every game since her freshman year, and that experience shows. And I think that filters out to our other nine and enables our girls to play a full, team defensive mentality. It's a pleasure to have."

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Speaking of Garnet Valley, it's been a tough year for the boys team, which has scored just 12 goals in 13 matches and been shut out seven times. One of the bright spots, though, has been goalkeeper Connor Bradley, who ranks among the county leaders in saves with 78 and is stopping shots at a 78 percent clip.

He's stonewalled three of the four penalty kicks he's faced, including two in a 5-1 win over Ridley last week.

Unfortunately, though, the following game against Marple Newtown proved to be Bradley's last of the season, after he broke a finger making a save on a breakaway. The junior will have surgery today to insert pins.

"He's been really good," head coach Marty Meenan said. "Connor has always brought a good knowledge of the game and a good skill level. He got a chance to mature into the varsity goalie, and it definitely gave him confidence to play well this season."

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On the college pitch: The transition from high school to college has gone smoothly for the 2011 Daily Times Players of the Year, Thomas Shiiba and Gina DiTaranto.

Shiiba scored his first collegiate goal Saturday in the United States Naval Academy's 1-1 draw with Bucknell. The Strath Haven graduate has seen the pitch in all 10 of the Midshipmen's matches, including a bit of a homecoming when Navy met Army at PPL Park a week ago, and has cracked the starting lineup twice.

In addition to the goal, Shiiba has recorded three assists, giving him five points on the season, tied for third on the team.

Fellow former Panther DiTaranto hasn't seen quite as much playing time at the University of Delaware, though she did record the only goal of the Blue Hens' 1-0 win over Siena Sept. 2.

DiTaranto has appeared in eight of Delaware's 12 matches, all from the bench, and has scored just the one goal against the Saints.

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Odds and Ends: The flip side of Garnet Valley's seven straight wins is four straight losses from Radnor in a brutal portion of their schedule. ... On the boys side, the last-season swoon belongs to Haverford, which has lost five straight. ... Marple Newtown's boys team has scored 29 goals this season; 15 have come from freshmen. ... Since this is a goalkeeper-centric notebook, let's throw in two more stats from between the sticks. Archbishop Carroll goalkeeper Abby Johnson has stopped 155 shots, an average of 13 shots per game. Meanwhile, Christian Academy keeper Amber Phillips has stopped 90 percent of her shots this season.